Posts Tagged With: Pudding

I had the fortunate experience of being raised by an excellent cook. My mom was known for her kitchen as friends and family clamored for an invite. I’m not even exaggerating. There was a pastor who praised my mom’s cooking from the pulpit. I will never forget the saying, “Yummy, yummy in my tummy. We love mummy.” He was one fried chicken loving Brit.

When my mom married my dad, she only knew how to cook Italian food so my Granny took her under her wing and taught her everything she knew about Southern cooking. It’s for that reason that my Italian mother can make some mean fried chicken. Basically, I grew up on fried food and pasta. My Mom was a creature of habit in the kitchen. Why mess with a good thing? The only new recipes that were made in our house were handed over from family and friends after trying them first at their homes.

In this way my Mom has stifled my kitchen creativity (sorry, Mom). I love to get recipes from family and friends that I have sampled. Otherwise, I’m reluctant to branch out in the kitchen if a new recipe doesn’t sound like a bona fide winner, which I like to refer to as “smack your momma good”. *Make a mental note of that phrase. It will reappear and when it does, you’ll want to make those recipes yourself.

While I am branching out more these days by cooking new cuisines, such as Indian, and using new foods, like bok choy, you will see a lot of recipes on here from my family and friends. I like to pay tribute where tribute is due, but I will denote any changes that I’ve made. With that in mind, let’s get to my first recipe from my sister.

A little back story before I get to the recipe. I know what you’re thinking, if this is the back story, what the heck were the last four paragraphs? An intro, my friend. Ever heard the saying, “The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach?” Well, that saying is definitely true for my husband. Jeremy has a huge sweet tooth. He likes to have dessert every night. With a new baby around, I don’t exactly have the time to bake up goodies from scratch, but I can make the time for a no bake dessert. Pudding-based desserts are perfect for summer as they are best served cold. Below you will find the recipe for a No Bake Oreo Dessert. Yum!

All you need are these five ingredients: milk, instant vanilla pudding mix (substitute chocolate if you like), margarine, Oreos, and Cool Whip.

First, prepare the vanilla pudding according to the package directions.

Second, melt about 2 tablespoons of margarine in a 9 x 13 pan. Use more if you plan to use more cookies to form a thicker crust.

Third, use a food processor to grind a third of the Oreos into fine crumbs. Press the crumbs into the bottom of the pan with the margarine to form a crust.

Next grind another third of the Oreos into bits. Mix the bits into the pudding. Pour the Oreo pudding mixture over the crust and smooth it out. Top with Cool Whip.

Grind the remaining third of Oreos into chunks. Sprinkle them on top of the Cool Whip. Refrigerate until ready to devour.

I like to use the food processor to play with the texture of the Oreos. It adds a little crunch, which I enjoy. I’m not much on making food look pretty, but the color of the vanilla pudding with the cookies mixed in bothered me a little. It turned an unappetizing tannish color. I think the only way to remedy this is to sprinkle the cookies on top of the pudding instead of mixing them in or to make the pudding from scratch as the store-bought pudding mix has a slight yellow tint to it. Since I’m trying to save time, I think I’ll opt for sprinkling next go round.